Detective Conan: The Logic behind the End
by Couch12
Summary: A more serious story, depicting how this series could end. Sonoko, Ran, Conan and Kogoro are on a luxury cruise line waiting to see if Kid will show up. Once he does, he kidnaps Ran and introduces her to Vermouth. Ran learns the truth & gets the Antidote
1. Chapter 1: Beginnings

Chapter 1:

"Come on Ran-chan, it'll be fun! I just know Kid-sama will appear soon!" Sonoko squealed while tightly grabbing Ran's arm.

"ah-Sonoko! Wait-" Ran cried, trying to separate herself from Sonoko's grip without much luck.

'Really...' Conan thought to himself as he walked along behind the two girls. 'What's the big deal about that criminal? Did Sonoko really have to buy this luxury cruise ship just to lure Kid in?' he wondered. 'The guy is nothing but trouble!'. Flashbacks of the past run-ins with Kid flashed through his mind, none of the cases ending with a clear victory for him.

"Ah Conan-kun, hurry up! We'll be late for dinner!" Ran called out behind her. Conan hadn't noticed that he had fallen behind while thinking.

" I'm coming, Ran-neechan!" he called, quickly running to catch up with the girls. The three of them entered the dining hall of the ship. Large chandeliers fell from the ceiling, filled with crystals as the sounds of conversations echoed throughout the room. The tables were filled with formally dressed people, enjoying a large assortment of expensive looking food. Ran quickly guided the other two through the sea of tables.

"I know he's around here somewhere" she mumbled to herself, looking around at the different faces and tables. "He better not be off drinking and flirting with-" before Ran could finish, she saw her father swinging around a beer can with a huge grin on his face as the liquid spilled onto the table, just missing the woman sitting next to him.

"Ah- ha ha! And then, just as I- The great detective Kogoro- was about to solve the insolvable crime, the dirty criminal decided to run for it!" He screamed, his red face turning a dark crimson as he got closer to the lady sitting next to him.

" DAD!" Ran screamed, her hands on her hips " I told you no drinking during a case! You're supposed to be looking out for the phantom thief! Not flirting and drinking!" she scolded, her cheeks turning red at the attention she was getting from the surrounding tables.

"Aw- Come on Raaan!" he answered cheerfully "That pesky thief won't be able to escape while I'm here! Bwa-ha ha ha ha ha!"

"Jeez" Ran complained while watching her father make a fool out of himself. 'Your lucky I love you' she thought to herself. Ran quickly decided that her father was a lost-cause and turned toward Conan.

"Say Conan, how about we get something to eat and head outside, it's a beautiful night!" she asked, eyeing the large buffet table.

"Yeah!" Conan answered, happy to get away from Kogoro and enjoy some time with Ran. At least he hoped he would be alone with Ran...

"Sonoko, what about you?" he asked, wishing she suddenly had something really important to do.

" I don't understand!" Sonoko cried, startling Conan and Ran with her sudden outburst. "The invitation I sent asked him to steal the King's pendent at midnight! He's 2 minutes late!" She complained, holding onto the large pendent hanging from her neck.

"Well, maybe he had a hard time finding the boat?" Ran said, feeling awkward she had to make excuses for a thief.

"Or maybe he was waiting for the right moment" said the lady sitting next to Kogoro, her unfamiliar voice catching everyone's attention. Conan stared hard at the woman 'something about her isn't right' he thought to himself. Almost as if the woman heard Conan's thought she smiled and reached into her pocket.

"Ah! Quick! He's-" before Conan could finish his scream a large pink cloud surrounded the table. A few people screamed, as Sonoko and Conan covered their faces from the smoke.

" He's here!" Sonoko screamed. She quickly grabbed her necklace. " If he want this he'll have to steal me too!" she said looking around ' and when he does, I'll steal his heart' she thought excitedly to herself. Suddenly there was a shadow coming near her in the cloud, her heart started hammering in her chest as she closed her eyes, ready to be swept away by her Kid-Sama. As the smoke settled, Sonoko slowly began to open her eyes. The first thing she noticed was that she was still in the exact same spot she was, looking at a very drunk Kogoro. She quickly spun to her left, and saw that bratty kid who was busy coughing and wiping his watering eyes. She spun to her right, and saw nothing but tables and random people.

" What the! He was supposed to steal me along with the-" Sonoko stopped complaining as she placed her hand over her now naked neck. "He stole the King's pendent and not me!?" she screamed, looking down to confirm that the pendant was gone. "That's so unfair, Kid-sama!!!" she cried, looking around the room for any signs of him.

' Jeez, using smoke should be against the rules!' Conan thought, as he finally stopped coughing and was able to look up again. "Hey, Ran, are you ok?" he asked looking in her direction. His heart stopping when he didn't see her

"Ran?" He said looking around, his pulse quickening. "Raaan!" he continued calling. He looked around and didn't see her anywhere 'That bastard!! He took her! Shit, if he hurts her!' he screamed to himself as he ran towards the exit.

" Uh where's the brat going?...What happened to the pretty lady?" Kogoro asked, blinking dumbly at the scene that just took place.

"Who cares!" Sonoko answered, pouting as she slid down into a chair, crossing her arms over her chest.

* * *

"Where are you taking me!?" Ran cried out, as Kid flew over the railing of the ship, his cape fluttering in the wind. The pendant dangling between his fingers as he held Ran, hoping she wouldn't be stupid enough to hurt him mid-air. "Somewhere we can talk" he answered, landing on the floor below.

"I've got nothing to say to a criminal" Ran said, trying to hide the fear in her voice. She began thinking of all the ways she could incapacitate him while holding her like this. She began raising her hands to strike, when she caught a good glimpse at Kid's face. 'So much like Shinichi' she thought. She was distracted and forgot all about the attack as Kid gently placed her on her feet.

"Well now!" He said cheerfully " I wasn't sure I'd be able to do that without you trying to kill me!" a goofy grin appearing on his face. Ran blinked and returned to reality, she wasn't sure what he was going to do with her, she looked around for an exit and found a door on the opposing wall. Kid followed her gaze and smiled.

"Oh I wouldn't escape just yet. You're welcome to leave once I explain why I brought you here. That seems fair doesn't it?" Kid said. Even though it was dark, Ran guessed they were in a bedroom, the outline of the couch looked similar to the one back in her room. She watched as Kid turned on a lamp, the light hurting her eyes as it lit up Kid's face, he sat down on a chair motioning Ran to sit down on the couch in front of him. She had no reason to trust him, he wasn't Shinichi 'No matter how much he looks like him' she thought to herself.

"How about I stand here and you just tell me what you want, then I kick your ass and escape?" Ran said, once again looking towards the door.

" Well, I suppose that would work too" Kid sighed standing, as he stepped closer toward her. Her gaze narrowed as she raised her hands.

"Easy easy!" Kid said calmly " I just want to talk, I may be a thief, but I won't hurt you" he locked eyes with Ran trying to assure her he wasn't going to attack. Ran stood her ground, not moving an inch 'Guess I'll do things her way' he thought in defeat.

" I'll get to the point, I need your help" he said quickly, waiting for Ran to attack him at any moment. He knew she was a champion at Karate, and he wasn't sure how well he would do against her, it had been awhile since he fought anyone hand- to- hand. 'My card gun made me a little rusty' he thought smiling to himself.

"Help you with what?" Ran asked. 'There's no way I'm helping him with anything, if I get him to talk maybe I'll be able to get to the door' Ran thought to herself, planning to make an escape as soon as he started talking again. But it wasn't his voice that answered her.

"That's where I come in" said a beautiful voice from the corner of the room, Ran could see the shape of a person walking towards her. Her arms began to tense up.

"Who's there!" Ran called, trying to hide her voice from cracking.

"Someone who can help you get Shinichi back, Angel" a beautiful blonde woman stepped into the light, holding a cigarette in between her fingers. She smiled when she saw Ran gasp at the sight of her.

"Sh-Sharon Vineyard?" Ran said out loud, regretting it immediately 'That's impossible... She wouldn't look like that, it's been so long... she should have aged' Ran thought, as her heart hammered in her chest.

"Wow, you know your actresses, I'm impressed. But I'm afraid I'm not much of an actress anymore, Nowadays I'm doing something a little different" She smiled, with dead eyes. " Oh, and these days I go by Vermouth"

"Wh-What do you want from me!?" Ran said, she couldn't help stuttering, the fear was getting to her.

" Oh not much" Vermouth said, flicking her lighter open to light her cigarette, "I just need you to be bait" she said as she flicked her lighter off.

" What do you mean bait?" Ran demanded, inching her foot toward the door.

"It's not as bad as it sounds, you'll be safe. We just need you to get that detective motivated" Kid answered quickly, trying to calm down the situation. He knew it was only a matter of time before Conan would find him, he needed Ran to agree quickly.

" I don't understand" Ran answered, she was worried about what detective they were talking about. She stopped trying to escape and decided to listen to the end.

Vermouth blew out a puff of smoke and began explaining "You don't know what happened to that boyfriend of yours do you?" she asked flicking her cigarette as a few ashes fell. "He's on a "Big Case" right? Do you know what that case is?" she asked Ran, smiling her wicked smile.

"..No, I don't" Ran admitted, feeling even more terrified now that Shinichi was being brought into this.

" I see" Vermouth continued " I'm surprised he didn't tell you, considering he lives with you now. He goes by Conan when stuck in that body" she said, keeping her eyes on Ran.

The accusation caught Ran off guard 'these people actually think Shinich turned into a kid?' she thought to herself before answering.

" Your insane, I'm getting out of here" Ran said strongly as she bagan walking to the door.

"Wait!" Kid called as he grabbed her arm "Listen, what she's saying is true, Shinichi was turned into Conan by a group of criminals, a group called the Black organization. He's tried to take them down before but hasn't been able to get close enough to get them. But if you're involved he'll try even harder." Kid pleaded "Plus if you're in the group you can help bring it down from the inside, like her" Kid pointed at Vermouth. " I tried to take them out myself, but I need help... His help, if he can't do it, I don't know who can"

" I'm not helping you... Your both criminals! Conan can't be Shinichi! I've seen them both at the same time!" Ran cried out, trying to convince herself that what she said was the truth. She had always felt that Conan was tied to the disappearance of Shinichi, the two of them were just too similar!

" What if I can prove that the kid is him?" Vermouth asked. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a silver container labeled _**MRTY 1893. **_

"How?" Ran asked, trying to see what the silver container was.

" Just give him one of these pills and you'll have your answer" Vermouth said, handing the container over to Ran.

" Why should I trust you? Those pills could be poison! I'm not an idiot" Ran yelled.

"There not poison, you can have one yourself, these pills will only affect people who have taken APTX 4869" Vermouth answered, getting annoyed. She didn't have to be here answering all these questions, she was in enough danger as it was. Someone from the Organization could have followed her. She was willing to risk it, if it meant getting the 'Cool guy' to finally attack the Black Organization. ' I want this to end... I want the whole thing to be exposed...and he's the one that can do it' Vermouth thought to herself. In the distance she heard a child's voice calling for Ran, she knew her time was up. She placed the container on the table under the lamp.

"We'll be in touch" she said to Ran, as she quickly spun around and disappeared into the darkness of the room. Ran stared at the silver container, as the light from the lamp shimmered off of it.

" It's true... what she said... She is working for them, but for whatever reason she wants to take the organization down, if you agree to be bait like she wanted, I promise to help you and that detective" Kid explained to Ran, getting her attention away from the container.

" Why would you do that?... Why help take down criminals?" Ran couldn't help asking, the look on Kids face was getting to her, not because it looked like Shinichi, but because of the sadness and determination that shone through his eyes. Kid looked at Ran and contemplated answering her, he decided to tell her the truth.

"The black organization killed my father" he said looking down. Before Ran could ask him anything else he had disappeared. Just then there was a bang on the door.

"Ran! Ran, are you in there!? Answer me!" Conan screamed, banging on the door in a panic. "Raaan!!"

Ran looked back at the door and began walking towards it, until she stopped. The silver container was still on the table. She had a feeling that the answer was inside it, she might be able to get Shinichi back. She remembered when he left her; how she knew something was wrong but didn't move. She had never forgiven herself for that, this time would be different, this time she'll do something. Ran walked back to the table and slipped the container into her coat pocket before going to the door and letting Conan inside.


	2. Chapter 2: Reaction

Chapter 2:

"Ran are you Ok? Where's Kid?" Conan asked as he frantically entered the room. Looking at her from head to toe, making sure nothing was hurt...or missing.

"Conan, I'm fine!" Ran answered, putting on a smile to calm him down. 'I'm pretty far from fine' she amended in her head 'I guess I can't come out and ask him about any of this', Ran thought sighing to herself. 'There's no way it's possible...Right?'

"Ran, where did he go? Did you see him get away?" Conan was anxious to start chasing Kid, he wasn't sure why he had taken Ran, but he wasn't going to let it happen again. Ran looked down at Conan who had moved into the room and was looking around for any clues. She didn't want him to find anything, so she quickly grabbed his arm and lead him out the door.

" I was unconscious and I just woke up when I heard you banging at the door" Ran lied quickly, hiding her face from Conan. She had never been a good liar, and Shinichi could always tell when she was lying. She convinced herself that she would work on her lying skills.

Unfortunately for Ran, he could already tell that something was going on. Just before she had pulled him away he had found fresh cigarette ashes on the carpet, he didn't think they belonged to Kid, and he knew Ran didn't smoke. Conan began to worry: ' Why would Ran lie?... Who was in the room with her?' he began panicking, thinking of all the guys that Sonoko had tried to set Ran up with 'It couldn't be...'

The two of them were lost in thought as they returned to the dining hall; they walked up to where Kogoro was now passed out on the table. They both sighed as they began lifting him, something the two of them had perfected over time. They finally managed to drag him to their room and lay him on the bed, ignoring the mumblings of racetracks and mah-jong and he turned in his drunken slumber. An awkward silence filled the room, they looked at each other trying to come up with something to say.

"H-hey, Conan...why don't you take a shower first, I'm just going to go to bed" Ran said awkwardly, looking away from Conan.

"N-No! That's alright...I'm pretty tired" Conan said, looking in another direction.

"Oh... I see..." Ran answered. "Well...Goodnight!" she said, quickly heading towards the door, she managed to smile at him as she closed it behind her. Taking in a big breath, she left the door and headed to her room. Conan heard her footsteps slowly fade, as soon as he heard her room door shut he started running to the door. 'Something's going on! Why wouldn't she tell me?... She couldn't actually be with a guy...or with Kid' the idea made him sick. 'Think about this rationally, why would there be a smoker in that room. People often smoke after they—" he stopped himself from continuing the thought, he was too emotional to make a logical conclusion about it, so he decided to go back to the room to search for more clues.

"Did Ran really give up on me?" he asked himself out loud as he walked down the hall. Upset that he couldn't focus on the case like usual. "This is going to be a long vacation" he sighed drooping his shoulders as he continued walking down the hall.

4 days later --- Mouri Detective agency----

Conan sighed as he looked at his reflection in the mirror of the bathroom. It had been 2 days since the cruise ended and he still wasn't able to figure out what happened that night. Not to mention that Ran was still acting strange around him. He remembered how pathetic he felt after finding nothing in that room. He was sick of feeling pathetic.

"Tonight's the night I call and demand an explanation" he said to his reflection. 'If I'm going to accuse her of dating other guys, I'm going to do it in my normal teenage, Shinichi voice!' he thought to himself, already feeling better about the situation. He quickly got dressed into his trademark blue outfit and walked into the kitchen to wait for Ran to serve him breakfast.

"Good morning Ran!" he called to her, using the most childish voice he could muster. The sudden noise made Ran jump and almost drop the egg she was frying.

"Oh, Conan, I didn't know you were up and dressed yet, I was going to wake you" she said, a fake smile plastered to her face. She quickly turned away to face the stove again. The last few days were a nightmare to her; she didn't know what she should do. That is until last night, when all the thinking had driven her crazy enough to actually take one of the pills. After she swallowed it she couldn't believe what she had done! As she sat there on her bed waiting to start convulsing, or puking, she began thinking what she would do if what Vermouth said was the truth. "Ok, If I'm fine from this pill I'll give one to Conan, if nothing happens I'll know she was lying...But if something does happen to Conan..." she looked at the picture of Shinichi and her at Tropical land "...If he's really Shinichi..."

"Ran! The egg is burning!" Conan brought her back from her flash-back quick enough to save the egg. She slid the egg onto a plate and brought out the silver container. Her pulse quickened as she broke the pill and sprinkled its contents onto the plate, quickly hiding any evidence with ketchup. Ran took a deep breath and placed the plate in front of Conan.

"Here you go, Conan. Just the way you like it" she said as she placed a fork down next to the plate. Conan looked down and frowned; Ran immediately began to panic 'Did he see something? Was he watching me!?' she started screaming to herself.

"You forgot the knife" Conan said, looking at her with sad, child-like eyes. Ran stood there a couple seconds, letting what he just said register in her brain.

"Oh! Your right! I'm sorry" she quickly opened a drawer and got out a knife and handed it to him. She took a deep breath as he began cutting and eating the egg. Time seemed like it stood still as he slowly took bite after bite of it.

"Thank you for the food" Conan said, hands clasped together when he was done, he put the plate in the sink and grabbed his bag off the back of the chair, anxious to get the school part of his day over. Ran watched him as he started walking to the door. He turned around and looked at her.

"Aren't you coming?" he asked waiting patiently for her at the door. Ran let out a big sigh and grabbed her bag 'I knew that it wasn't true' she teased herself for ever believing such a crazy story. "Be there in a sec!" she called out as she turned to make sure the stove was turned off.

Conan waiting for her with his small hand on the door handle, he knew she always had to make sure nothing was left on before leaving in the morning. He smiled thinking about all the things he learned about her by living here. As he was about to remind her to check the dishwasher, a huge wave of pain shot through his body. 'Geh, what is this?' he thought to himself as the pain increased, bringing him to his knees. 'M-my body..it's changing?! How?" He clutched at his heart as the throbbing pain increased and the burning sensation spread throughout his body 'I have to get out of here!' he thought to himself, he walked towards his bedroom as he called out to Ran "I'm going on without you! I'll see you tonight!!" before he could hear her answer he opened his room door and slumped against the other side, the throbbing in his head getting louder and faster. He couldn't take the pain anymore and screamed as the world turned black.

Ran heard the scream from the kitchen; she instantly ran to the front door and looked outside. 'He couldn't be that far if I heard his scream' she decided to look through the rooms, just in case. The first room she tried was his and Kogoro's room. Her heart was beating like crazy, worried that she might have hurt him. Tears were coming to her eyes as she turned the knob and walked in. Her eyes immediately went to Shinichi lying on the floor, torn clothes barely covering him. Ran covered her mouth to hold in the scream.


	3. Chapter 3: Questions without answers

Chapter 3:

'Ok calm down, Ran think about this. This is what you were expecting when you fed him that pill... Ok so you weren't REALLY expecting this, but it was a possibility' Ran thought to herself in a panic. After walking in on a very naked Shinichi she ran out and started pacing back and forth outside the door. 'Ok right... so, Conan is Shinichi....Shinichi is Conan... yeah that makes sense!!' she continued walking back and forth, her face changing with every new thought that flashed through her mind. One thought made her stop in her tracks.

"...He is alive in there, right?" she said out loud. She instantly swung open the door and looked straight at his sleeping face, ignoring the butterflies in her stomach. Ran knelt down on the floor, and checked his pulse, breathing a deep sigh of relief after she felt his heartbeat.

"He's alive...thank God" Ran slouched on the floor, keeping her eyes on his sleeping face. For a moment she forgot about the crazy situation she had just gotten herself into, and just stared at his peaceful sleeping face. 'I was so worried about you, idiot' she thought with a smile. Ran was about to put her hand on his face when she heard a moan. Her hand stopped mid-air 'Oh no' she thought, as she quickly stood up and quietly snuck out of the room. Her hands still on the door handle, she began to think.

' What do I do now? Do I just come out and tell him that I know everything? Why didn't he tell me!? What about Vermouth and Kid? Guess this proves they were telling the truth...that means he really is in trouble' the thought made her frown 'He was in trouble and he didn't even tell me about it! Am I that unreliable, Shinichi!?' she thought through the door, imagining his sleeping face on the floor. 'I want to help you...' she thought to herself as she slowly turned away from the door 'This time it'll be different' she thought, a look of determination covered her face.

Shinichi slowly began opening his eyes; the light coming in from the window blinded him. He was disorientated for a few seconds, trying to remember what had happened to him; suddenly it all came back in a flash. He remembered he was waiting for Ran at the door when he started changing. 'Oh no did she see me?' he looked around the room to see if anything was amiss. Aside from him being naked he didn't see anything wrong, if Ran had seen him she would have left clothes or a note or...something. 'I don't know what she'd do actually' he thought to himself, a quirky smile coming to his face 'a girls mind will always be a mystery'. He stood and opened Kogoro's closet, happy to find a blue suit that looked like it would fit him. After changing he looked at the door, becoming nervous about what could be on the other side. 'What if Ran's out there...Or Kogoro!?' he knew that both of them were usually gone during the daytime, Kogoro to his mah-jong parlour and Ran to school, but the thought scared him. 'What if Ran stayed home!? Or Kogoro! How would I explain this?' he gestured to his grown up body. 'Calm down' he scolded himself, and he slowly reached for the handle and swung the door open. A dead silence filled the room, as he cautiously walked out of the room. He was about to run across the kitchen to get to the front door when something caught his eye. There was a note on the table with some money next to it, his heart dropped to his stomach 'A note?' . He looked around to make sure the coast was clear before picking up the note and reading it out loud.

Dear Conan

Since you left for school without me this morning I wasn't able to tell you that I'll be home late. There's a karate meeting, and I think it'll run a little later than usual. Here's some money for dinner, be good.

Ran

Shinichi let was so relieved he let out a laugh 'She doesn't know' he thought, a huge smile on his face 'That's great' he folded the note and stuck it in his pocket. As he walked down to the street he got out his cell phone, making a desperate call to Haibara:

"Haibara! It's me, I changed back and I don't know why! You didn't do anything to me when I wasn't looking right? Is it possible the drug wore off? Come to Dr. Agasa's as soon as you get this, bye" Shinichi closed his phone and quickly walked toward his house.

"I can't believe he stole the king's pendant and not mee!!" Sonoko cried to Ran for the 5th time that day.

"What kind of person can ignore this?" Sonoko gestured to herself, quickly stopping when she looked at Ran's face.

"Ran, are you listening?" Ran sat at her desk, starring at the blackboard, a blank look on her face.

"Earth to Ran, poor maiden with a sorrowful heart complaining here" Sonoko said, waving her hand in front of Ran for attention.

"Eh? Oh right, Sorry Sonoko... I've got a lot to think about" Ran said, placing her head on her hand as she stared at the blackboard.

"You never told me were you went after Kid showed up" Sonoko said, a hungry look in her eyes "You didn't leave with him did you?"

"WHAT!? N-no! I would never even think about doing something crazy like that!" Ran screamed, a little too loudly. Sonoko gave her a strange look before continuing.

"Yeah, I know. You wouldn't want the great phantom thief when your husband could come back any day now." A teasing smile came to her face as she waited for Ran's usual outburst.

"...right" was all she got as an answer; Ran continued to stare at the blackboard and sigh. She had just left Shinichi lying there; it was the only thing she could think of. After she heard him waking up she quickly scribbled out a note for Conan, so that she would have an excuse for not coming back. She had thought a day at school would let her relax and make up her mind, but it had just made things worse. After she learned the truth she was determined to help him. She had planned to get in contact with Vermouth and Kid, but she didn't know how. The Black organization had beaten Shinichi and could have seriously hurt him, could she even trust criminals like them? School was done now and she still had no idea what she should do. Ran shuffled to her locker, barely hearing Sonoko talking as she changed her shoes and walked out. When she got to the front gates she wasn't sure what direction to go in. 'If I go right I would end up at his house...Should I go and demand an answer? ' she thought to herself and she looked down the road. ' Left is home' she thought looking to the left ' He could still be there.' she looked down the familiar road 'He could be there waiting for me to come home so he can explain and tell me everything!' she gripped her bag harder and started happily running toward her home, not noticing Sonoko yelling behind her.


	4. Chapter 4: Circles

Chapter 4:

"Oh, Of course... I forgot that I was dealing with a bunch of retards" Ran said through clenched teeth; her fist shaking in the air. She had run home imagining all the ways Shinichi would beg her to forgive him. Only to open the door and find a drunken Kogoro singing, as he threw beer cans around the room. Ran spun around and punched the wall, leaving a crumbling hole the size of her fist. The loud noise make Kogoro stop singing and sit up straight, sweat began to appear on his forehead. He knew that noise too well, he stayed very still, waiting for the wraith to follow. Ran stomped into the room, throwing her bag at the wall as she whipped her hand towards her father.

"What the hell is this!?!" she bellowed, causing Kogoro to wince and hold his ears. "I come home expecting a nice welcome, and all I get is a floor full of crap!!" she screamed as she kicked a can that went flying across the room. Kogoro feared for his life, waiting for the next wave of screaming to come, instead he heard Ran's door slam shut.

"What's her problem?" he said very quietly as he cracked open a new beer.

'All the men in my life are stupid!' Ran thought to herself as she paced around her room, waiting to calm down. Once the anger inside her became a dull fire she sat on her bed. 'Maybe he's waiting to tell me later' she thought and she grabbed her pillow. 'He probably didn't want me to find him...' she blushed and hid her face behind her pillow 'naked', she felt shallow for only thinking of herself. 'Of course he left, he probably needs to figure things out' as soon as the thought passed, Ran felt calm and at peace. She placed the pillow back on her bed and walked out of her room with renewed energy. She quickly cleaned up the mess Kogoro made and started dinner, all the while, waiting for a phone call from her favourite detective.

"Isn't it great, Agasa!?" Shinichi called and he came back into the lab from changing into his normal clothes.

"I'm back to normal...Look!" he said as he extended his arm towards the shelf in front of him "I can reach things now!" he pulled a book off the top shelf and placed it down on a table, a huge grin on his face.

"Well, yes, that's great Shinichi... But I can't help but ask why? What suddenly happened to make you change?" Agasa said with great concern.

"I don't know..." Shinichi admitted, rubbing his chin as he thought.

"I was hoping Haibara would be able to figure it out" just then small footsteps started coming down the stairs. "There she is right now"

Haibara walked into the lab, her cell phone open in her hand. She saw Shinichi smiling and waving at her, the shock of the sight made her lose grip on her cell phone, it clattered to the floor. Haibara rearranged her composure and quickly grabbed the phone, as she continued walking further into the lab.

"So, that message I got wasn't a joke" she said with a blank expression. "What did you do this time?" she asked with an accusing look on her face.

"Hey hey, I didn't do anything" Shinichi said waving his hands "All I know is I was about to walk out the door when I started changing" he said, leaning against a lab table.

"You think it's possible that the APTX 4869 could wear off?" Agasa asked Haibara.

" It's impossible... the apoptosis of non-neural cells already stabilized... they wouldn't start reacting again" Haibara said smugly.

"Something had to cause this" she placed her phone and bag down and walked further into the lab. She retrieved a step ladder and placed it next to Shinichi. After grabbing a syringe and other objects around the lab she climbed the steps.

"Hold out your arm, I'm going to run some test" she ordered Shinichi, as she prepared his arm to draw some blood. Shinichi quickly looked in the other direction.

Haibara smiled "What's this? The great detective is afraid of needles?"

"Shut up...I'm not afraid of needles! ...I'm just not a big fan of them" Shinichi said, annoyed.

Haibara's smile grew as she finished drawing blood and cleaned his arm with a cotton ball; she took the vile of blood and placed it in a rack "Well, this is going to take awhile. What did you tell Ran?" she asked cleaning up the table. Shinichi's face turned white.

"Crap! I forgot about that!" he said, panicked "What should I do Agasa?"

"The organization might still be after you, Shinichi. It's much too dangerous to get Ran involved" Agasa said calmly.

"Your right, I can't put her in danger... But how do I explain Conan missing?" he thought as he rubbed his elbow.

"That's an easy one" Agasa said, as he brought out a new red bowtie.

"Mouri detective agency" Ran answered the phone. "How can we help you?"

"Ah- Ran-neechan" Conan stuttered. "Uh...Hi" Shinichi 's shoulders dropped ' I've been Conan for how long now and all I could think to say was Hi?' Shinichi shook his head and continued talking into the bowtie through the phone.

"Uh, I'm sorry, I forgot to tell you..." he continued before he was cut off by Ran.

"...Conan? ...Why are YOU calling me!?" Ran asked annoyed 'He can't even admit it in his own voice?' she thought as the anger started building inside her.

"Eh? Uh, well you see... My mom came back and told me my dad was in an accident so I had to rush home" Conan answered through the phone.

"... I see" Ran said, waiting to hear more 'Where's he going with this?' she thought.

" So I won't be around for awhile"

"....."

" I'll send for my stuff or Agasa can pick it up and send it to me" Conan continued.

"...... "

"Ran-neechan?...are you there?"

"Yeah I'm still here" Ran answered quickly "Sorry I was distracted..." Shinichi thought he heard her crying and began speaking softly into the bowtie.

"Listen...Ran-neechan. My mom said that Shinichi was home again...i-if you want to visit him...I'm sure he would love to see you" Shinichi was able to get the words out without much trouble; they were something he had wanted to say to her for a long time.

"...Sure Conan, I'll visit Shinichi tonight... Be safe...and I hope your dad gets better, ok?" Ran managed to say without her voice cracking; she had started crying half-way through the conversation, but was trying to hide it 'Will he tell me when I visit him?' she hoped to herself as she said her good-byes and put on her shoes.


	5. Chapter 5: Leaving with a goodbye

Chapter 5:

Shinichi rustled the newspaper in his hand as he waited to hear the doorbell. After getting off the phone as Conan he was anxious to see Ran again. The whole time he had been living with her as Conan he knew how much she missed him, seeing her like that made him remember who he really was. The great detective Shinichi, Sherlock Holmes freak. He smiled remembering the various names she had called him in the past. No matter how long he was staying in this body; he planned to make the best of it. Even if he couldn't truly explain his disappearance, he wanted Ran to know how he felt about her. The doorbell echoed throughout the house, Shinichi jumped at the sudden noise.

"That's her" he said running to the stairs, before taking a step he looked back at Haibara and Agasa "Don't blow anything up!" he called as he waved behind his back. He quickly placed the newspaper down on a desk before rushing to the door. The doorbell rang again; he fixed his shirt before he opened the door.

"Hi Ran" he said, noticing she was still in her school uniform.

"Hi.... That's all you have to say is Hi?!" she said, coldly.

"Uh I mean, it's nice to see you... and how did you know I was home?" he said, readying himself for a punch.

"...Conan told me" Ran said with expecting eyes 'Trying to play innocent, the jerk'

"Oh?... That little kid that lives with you? I wonder how he found out, ha ha" he said awkwardly

'I'm sure it's pretty easy to figure it out if you're the same person' Ran thought to herself as she took a step inside.

"I don't know" she answered with a fake smile. Shinichi moved aside so she would have room to remove her shoes, as he looked down at her and began to get nervous. 'She's in a bad mood...Can't really blame her... but it'll be a little awkward confessing while she's pissed at me' he thought with a shudder. They managed to make small talk as Shinichi led her to the library.

"So!" Ran began suddenly "What was this "Big Case" you were working on?" she asked cunningly.

"Well, I'm actually not finished with it, but there was sort of a break in it and I was allowed to come home for a little while" Before Ran had arrived he had planned out exactly what to say if this topic came up. He was confident he had an answer for anything she might ask.

"Say, Shinichi...why don't you ever tell me the details of this big case?" she asked and she ran her hands along the covers of the books.

"It's a dangerous case, and since it's still unsolved I can't release any potential information" he said as if he was reading it from a book. Ran looked at him with sad eyes and approached him, getting close enough to get a good view of his eyes. The clear blue eyes she loved so much.

" Please... tell me" she said staring in his eyes, getting lost in their clarity.

"ah, Ran... I-" Shinichi stuttered as his heart hammered in his chest. He wanted to tell her everything. He would do anything to keep her from crying. He felt his resolve waver before he shook his head and convinced himself he was keeping her safe this way. 'Her safety and life is what's most important' He looked away from her eyes and waited for his heartbeat to slow down before he speaking again.

"Ran... I can't tell you... I need you to be safe"

Ran looked down at the floor and held back the tears that were forming in her eyes, she took a deep breath and looked up again.

"... Am I that unreliable?" she asked in a heartbreaking voice.

"No!...Ran, it's not like that!" he suddenly wrapped his arms around her, encasing her frame in his wide arms. He hadn't meant to do, but as soon as he saw the hurt in her eyes, his body moved without him realising.

"It's nothing like that" he soothed as he placed his hand on her head, bring her closer to him. "Ran, you're the most reliable person I know! You're the kindest, sweetest, and most caring! There's nobody in the world that can compare to you!" he said, placing his chin on her head. Ran blinked, tears had started falling from her eyes, she felt so safe and comfortable. This was the reason she waited so long for his return. The two of them stayed like that, overwhelmed in their feelings of safety and home. There was a sudden crash from the lab that made the two break apart. Shinichi had completely forgotten about the other people in the house.

"Sorry, Agasa is working on something in the lab, he probably broke something" he said apologetically. "Let me just check and make sure he's still alive, I'll be right back" he smiled as he left the room. Ran smiled as she watched him leave. She walked around the room looking at random books as she dragged her fingers along behind her, she stopped when she reached the desk. Today's newspaper was folded roughly on top of it. Ran saw the front page was a picture of Kid, followed by an article about his latest heist. Her eyes led to another picture toward the bottom of the page, it was the note he had left the day before:

**White and black will clash, as she watches over with grace.**

**The angel decides which place she should land. **

**Tonight she decides, and chooses her place.**

**Kaito Kid**

In the past Ran would never be able to decipher one of Kid's notes, but today it was like the answer shot out from the page. Ran looked back at the door that Shinichi had just walked through and clutched her hands together, remembering their hug. She made her decision and resolved her fate.

"Sorry, about that" Shinichi said, coming back into the room. "He just dropped something, clumsy as ever" he said laughing.

Ran gave a faint smile as she began talking, making sure she didn't sound nervous. "Shinichi, I'm sorry..." she began. His heart instantly doing flip-flops as he remembered the cigarette ashes and the room. He tried to remain calm.

"You've been gone a long time, and I was never sure when you would get back, and your timing is always horrible!" she said, with a fake laugh. "And...even though I'm so happy you've come back I'm afraid that" Shinichi took a deep breath waiting for the final blow, his stomach all twisted in knots. "I have a Karate tournament, and I'll be away for awhile" Ran finished in a rush. He sat there stunned as he let her words roam through his brain and sink in. Ran tried to fill the silence with more details.

"I've been nervous about it all week, I wasn't sure if I was even going, but today at school it was decided" she said, wishing hard that he would believe her. Shinichi let out a big breath, he hadn't realised he had been holding. 'A karate tournament' he thought, as his body relaxed 'That's why she was acting weird all week'

"That's great Ran! I just know you'll win" he said, smiling. "How long are you going to be away?"

Ran looked at him, before facing another direction. "Actually" she started "... I actually don't know... It might be awhile"

"Oh" was all he could say. He was expecting it to be a week or two at most. 'What kind of tournament is this!?' he thought to himself annoyed. 'Just when I get back!' the thought reminded him, she had been waiting for him for so long. 'I can't really complain if I have to wait for her' he thought in defeat, he walked over and patted her on the shoulder.

"Well... I'll be the one waiting for your return this time" he said with a sad smile. Ran looked into his blues eyes one last time and gave him a sad smile. They were quiet as he walked her back to the door, both not sure what to say in the awkward atmosphere. He offered to walk her home, but she had declined. They stood there at the door, waiting for the other to start speaking.

"... Well, I'll see you later, Ran" Shinichi said.

"Yeah..." she answered, slowly walking away from the door, she spun around to see him still there. Her hand moved by itself and placed itself on his cheek.

"...Be careful, please" she begged. Shinichi started at her as he felt the warmth of her hand glide off his cheek, he felt the blush form on his face as he nodded to her. She looked at him one last time before she quickly turned around and walked down the street. When she was a safe distance away from his house, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the newspaper article she had ripped out, she clenched her fist and began running to the address on the paper, never once looking back.


	6. Chapter 6: Ticking Clock

Chapter 6:

There was a large crowd gathered outside the museum. It cheered and chanted as a giant clock counted down the minutes. A tall, balding man made his way to the front of the crowd and extended his arms, someone off to the side handed him a microphone.

"What do we want!?" he screamed to the crowd.

"KIIIIID!" they answered, energetically.

"When do we want him!?" the man screamed again.

"NOOOW!" they answered, throwing their fist in the air.

The balding man spun around and pointed to the clock, it counted down... 5:59, 5:58, and 5:57. Ran reached the crowd and stayed on the outskirts, not sure what she should do. She began looking all around her for some sign that would show her where to go. A large man stepped out of the crowd and walked towards her.

"Are you a fan of Kid?" he asked standing next to her, looking toward the clock.

"Huh? Oh...No... Not really" Ran answered, the question caught her off guard.

"I see" he said smiling; he scuffed his boot on the ground and continued, "Well if you're not a fan, why are you here? It's awfully dangerous for a girl like you to be out so late". Ran's body tensed as she finally looked at him. The man reminded her of a blonde Santa, his round stomach and blonde beard that fell past his chin. She began thinking of how she could get away from him without anyone noticing, or sounding rude.

"Thanks for your concern, I should get going" she said as she cautiously moved away from the man. She began walking toward the crowd, the bright clock continued counting. 3:48, 3:47, 3:46... She had started to push past a few people in the crowd when she felt an arm on her shoulder.

"Oh come on, you really didn't think I would just leave it at that, did you?" Blonde Santa said with an evil grin. Ran stopped moving and faced him, watching his hand slid off her shoulder.

"I don't have time for a jerk like you right now!" she said, making a few people turn their heads. She brought her arms to her side and got into a fighting pose, waiting for the right moment to throw him to the ground. She watched as the man's expression changed to a grin; he began laughing. The voice sounded familiar, Ran tilted her head in wonder. The man reached up and removed his beard; he then began ripping his face. Ran watched in horror as his fat face became a familiar blonde woman. Vermouth opened her jacket and let sand bags fall to the ground. She quickly walked toward Ran and grabbed her arm, dragging her along with her.

"I really didn't think you would show up, Angel" she said, making her way to an alley way. They were alone, as the streetlight lit up their faces in a golden hue. Vermouth continued getting rid of her disguise, picking pieces of the mask off her face and removing the now baggy clothing. When she was done she gathered the remains of the costume and threw them in a nearby dumpster, quickly lighting them on fire. Ran couldn't help but watch in awe, the sequence took less than a minute as Vermouth dusted off her hands and lit up a cigarette. She noticed Ran staring at her as she flicked the lighter closed and blew out a cloud of smoke.

"You get used to getting rid of things fast, in my line of work" she said, flicking some ashes to the ground. Ran opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a huge cheer from the crowd.

"Guess that means the great phantom thief showed up" Vermouth said, looking bored. Ran looked behind her, trying to see through the darkness. The only thing she could make out was the clock, which now read 0:00 in bright red digits. There was a fluttering noise from the rooftop above her, she looked up and felt her heartbeat increase.

"What was that?" she asked in terror. 'Criminals are one thing, but ghost are another' she thought to herself in a panic. She heard a scuffle from the roof, followed by fluttering that became louder and louder before there was a loud 'THUMP' behind her. She opened her mouth to scream before it was covered by a white gloved hand.

"Easy there princess, we don't want to invite the neighbourhood to this little meeting of ours" Kid said, as Ran slowly turned to face him. He waited to make sure she was calm before removing his hand. Vermouth blew out another cloud of smoke before smothering her cigarette against the building next to her.

"Here's the deal" she began suddenly, reaching in her jacket for a box of cigarettes. "The great phantom thief here is going to be looking after you for awhile" she tapped the box until a cigarette fell out between her fingers.

"I thought I was joining the Black Organization?" Ran said suddenly upset. She hadn't left Shinichi so she could be babysat by a thief. Vermouth looked at Ran; she saw her slightly shaking knees and her clasped hands.

"There's no way you can be in the organization" she said, snorting. 'There's no way I'm putting you through that' she amended in her head.

"We just need to make your detective boyfriend believe you are. That's why until I get a job from the boss, you'll be learning the ropes from him" she pointed to Kid with her cigarette. Kid smiled and waved as Ran looked in his direction, her spirit falling.

"What about my family? And friends?" She asked facing Vermouth again "What about school? How long am I going to be away?" Ran had a ton of questions, but managed to stop them all from flooding out of her mouth. Vermouth sighed and slowly began walking.

"It shouldn't be that long before I get a job. When I do I'll tell you the details, which you will pass on to the detective. Until then you're stuck with the kid" Vermouth said, annoyed.

"Stuck doing what?" Ran asked nervously.

"Learning to be criminal" Vermouth said, on her last nerve "You can start by learning to shoot!" she called out behind her before disappearing into the darkness.

"Learning to shoot?" Ran asked facing Kid, he was busy looking at a sparkling bracelet in his hand.

"What does she mean, learning to shoot?" Ran asked, taking his gaze away from the shimmering diamonds.

"Well, that'll come later." He answered, dropping the bracelet back into his pocket. "Right now my job is to make you into a believable criminal. If we're going to trick that detective it'll take some work. Now, onto other things, what did you tell your Dad to get away?" he asked. Ran face turned white, she had completely forgotten.

"I only told Shinichi that I'd be away!" she said suddenly worried "How could I forget about telling my dad!?" she scolded herself as she stomped her feet.

Kid sighed and shook his head "Alright, calm down. Listen I'll give you until noon tomorrow to set things straight, alright? I'll come pick you up...make sure you pack light too. I don't want to carry a bunch of crap" he said narrowing his eyes at the thought. Ran nodded, feeling relieved she now had time to say her good-byes. She wasn't sure if what she was doing was right, but she knew it was better than doing nothing.


	7. Chapter 7: Search and Settle

Chapter 7:

"Are you done yet?" Shinichi asked, spinning side to side on a computer chair.

"When I'm done, I'll tell you" Haibara answered, coldly. Her hands were running across the keyboard of a computer, as the click-clacking noise filled the room.

"Searching for anomalies in blood isn't a walk in the park you know" she said dragging the cursor across the screen. As soon as Ran left, Shinichi returned to the lab to see if Haibara found anything from his blood, he looked over at Agasa who was busy working on a mechanical dog.

"Why don't you help, Agasa?" Shinichi called to him.

"Ah, I would love to help Ai-chan" he answered, looking over the dog "But I don't know much about humans, I've always been better with machines" he said smiling.

'You mean those crazy inventions that always explode? Yeah that's definitely your calling in life' Shinichi thought, spinning around in his chair. The thought reminded him.

"What did you break when Ran was here?" he asked, when he came to check on the two he only stayed long enough to make sure nothing was burning.

"Ah, it was nothing. I simply knocked over one of Ai-chan's test tubes" Agasa answered embarrassed, Haibara's face grew angry.

"Something that wouldn't have happened if he put it back where he found it" she said, scolding. Shinichi felt the beginning of a fight and quickly tried to steer the conversation.

"Well just be quiet next time, you could disturb the neighbours or something" he said, hoping that would be the end of the conversation. Agasa looked up from his work again and grinned.

"If I had known that you were actually getting somewhere with Ran-kun, I would've been more careful" a teasing grin covering his face. Shinichi blushed and looked the other way

"Shut up" he mumbled. Haibara rolled her eyes before looking back at the computer screen. Her body froze as she looked at the screen.

"Look at this!" she called, motioning Shinichi to come look at the screen. "See this right here?" she said pointing at the screen. "You're cells are back to normal, the non-neural cells that were affected by the APTX 4869 multiplied and reverted back to normal" she said, shocked.

"So...what does that mean? I'm cured?" Shinichi asked, trying to decipher the picture on the screen. His knowledge of chemistry didn't help him with any of this.

"As far as I can tell, you are" Haibara said, scrolling along the picture. "But like I said before, there's no way this could have happened without something starting it. Something entered your body that made your cells start changing" she said, concentrating on the screen. "It may take me awhile to find it without some sort of clue" she said, beginning to type and an amazing speed. "What did you eat before this happened?" she asked.

"Hmm...Well, I brushed my teeth like always" he began thinking back "then Ran made me an egg with ketchup" he said, smiling at the memory. Haibara became annoyed.

"I don't think a lovey-dovey breakfast is what caused this. You must have had something else, something you haven't eaten before" she said impatiently. Shinichi thought back to what he ate that week, nothing jumped out at him and he shrugged his shoulders.

"I was on that cruise, but I don't remembering anything different about the food" he said, and then a strange thought hit him.

"Ran was acting weird then" Haibara and Agasa looked at each other, an unasked question passed between them. Shinichi saw their gazes.

"You don't think Ran had something to do with this! She doesn't know anything!"

"We didn't say it was her!" Agasa defended "But Shinichi...It is a coincidence. Ran's strange behavior, you suddenly changing...What happened on that cruise?" he asked softly.

"Nothing!" Shinichi said, upset.

"...She disappeared for a while" he said after seeing their concerned faces. "But it was only for a couple minutes! She said she was unconscious!" he was shaking his hands defensively. He knew that she had been lying to him that night, he started getting nervous.

"It's not possible" he said more to himself than to the others. 'She would have said something...Wouldn't she?' he thought to himself.

"Isn't this the part when the great detective goes: Everyone's innocent until proven guilty" Haibara said encouraging him. He sighed and smiled.

"There can only be one truth" he said lifting his head. 'And I'm going to find it'

Ran opened her eyes to the bright sun that filtered in through her window. It was a beautiful day outside, as she stretched out her stiff muscles and reached for her clock. 11:00am. She sat on her bed, confused. 'Hmmm... 11 o'clock' she thought to herself, something about the time was nudging at her brain. She brushed off the thought, as she stood and stretched her legs. Then she remembered and ran to the clock, making sure she didn't read it wrong.

"11 O'CLOCK!!?!" She screamed. "He's picking me up at noon!" she said in a shriek.

Moving to her closet she quickly started hopping out of her pajamas and changing into a green sweater and jeans. She began frantically running around her room placing random object into a big backpack, knocking things over as she went. After she finished packing she slowly opened her room door and stepped out. After she came home last night she had planned to tell her dad that she was in a karate tournament, and would be gone for awhile. Her plans were ruined when she walked in on a passed out Kogoro. After that, she decided to wake up early the next day and explain things over a nice breakfast. 'So much for that plan' she thought and she quietly walked toward Kogoro's desk. He was reading the newspaper as the sunlight shone behind him.

"Bah, that dame Kid wouldn't have gotten away with it if I was there" he mumbled to himself, turning a page.

"Good morning Dad" she said cheerfully.

"Yeah, morning" he said dismissively. "I didn't hear you come home last night"

"You wouldn't have heard anything, the way you were sleeping" Kogoro snorted and turned another page. Ran looked at the clock: 11:42am, she was running out of time.

"Well, I'll be leaving soon!" she called out suddenly, she practised what she was going to say the night before.

"Leaving where?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Dad! For the last time! I told you! I'm in a karate tournament, today's the day I leave!" she was counting on his horrible memory to help her "Remember you signed that permission form ?"

"hmm?..." vague memories of permission slips and karate tournaments flashed through his head. He didn't remember any karate tournament that was happening anytime soon, then again he was missing a lot of memories lately, especially when on cases.

"Oh! Right" he said, not willing to admit that he forgot "Well what about food?"

"I've left you with enough money for lunch and dinner every day" she said sternly "If you spend any of it on racing or mah-jong you don't get to eat"

"What!? Ran, be serious! What if the brat suddenly has a growth spurt and eats a ton?!"

"Nice try" she said dryly "Conan went home, so nice of you to notice"

"...I knew something was missing" he mumbled to himself. Ran looked at the clock: 11:53am. She swung her bag over her shoulder and walked over to her dad.

"If anything happens call mom" she said teasingly, a smile coming to her face when she saw him pout, she kissed his cheek and headed to the door.

"What about breakfast!?" he called out behind her

"Figure it out!" she said waving before shutting the door. She rested her forehead on it and closed her eyes 'That takes care of that...please be safe'. She swiftly made her way to the street, her watch read 11:55am, she leaned against the building, enjoying the beautiful sunlight when-

"Oi! Ran! Good morning!" Hattori called out waving to her.

"H-Hattori-kun!? What are you doing here!?" she asked, trying to keep her voice from shrieking.

"ah, I thought I'd come visit Ku- I mean the brat, I haven't seen him in awhile"

"Oh, Conan went home yesterday, I don't know when he'll be back" she wasn't sure if Heiji knew about Shinichi, but she didn't have much time to think about it. Kid came into view riding a white motorcycle; she raised her bag and patted Heiji's shoulder.

"Well, it was nice seeing you. I've got to run!" she said, walking toward the now parked bike. Heiji looked over and saw Kid take off his white helmet. 'eh? I didn't know Kudo had a bike' he wondered absently as he waved goodbye. 'Here I come all the way from Osaka for a nice visit, and he ditches me for a date'

"Hey, Hattori!" Shinichi called running toward him. Heiji did a double take, he pointed toward the bike and swung back and pointed at Shinichi.

"Eh? K-Kudo?!...But-" he said looking at the bike as it faded out of sight.


	8. Chapter 8: Calm before the Storm

Chapter 8:

"Hattori, what are you doing here?" Shinichi asked, out of breath. After waking up late he had run to see Ran before she left for her karate tournament.

"K-Kudo!? What are you doing here? You were just over there!" he answered pointing at the street.

"I thought you were on a date with Ran?" Shinichi ignored the babbling Heiji and walked up the steps to the Mouri detective agency. 'Do I knock?' he wondered 'When I was Conan I could just walk in' he politely knocked twice before opening the door.

"Your business is appreciated, but we regret to inform you that the Mouri detective agency is closed today, please come back tomorrow and-... oh it's you" Kogoro said looking up from his newspaper. He narrowed his eyes "What do you want?" Ignoring the evil look from Kogoro he stepped into the room.

"Is Ran here?" he asked.

"No, she's at a karate tournament. She doesn't have time for a brat like you"

"Oi, Kudo, what's going on?" Heiji asked, walking in behind him.

Shinichi looked around before heading to the kitchen. "Hey! Who invited you in!?" Kogoro yelled getting to his feet "You've got a lot of nerve!" Shinichi looked through all the cupboards and dishes 'There's nothing in here' he thought. His eyes drifted to Ran's room, he started walking towards the door before he was blocked.

"There is no way I'm letting a teenager in my precious daughter's room alone" Kogoro said, covering the door with his arms. "I don't care what she says, I don't like you. Why don't you go back to- GY-HAAAAAH" his eyes began to close as he stumbled and fell in a sitting position against the wall.

"I've always wanted to do that, just for fun" Shinichi said, closing his tranquilizer watch and entering the room.

"What are you doing!?" Heiji said following behind him, he quickly nudged Kogoro "I thought you only knocked him out for a case? And why are you big? And why are you breaking and entering your girlfriends room?" he asked in a rush.

"I'll explain later, I'm on a case" he began looking around Ran's room, sorting through the objects on Ran's dresser. Heiji walked up next to him and joined him.

"You can start be telling me what we're looking for" he said lifting the lid of a jewellery box.

***********

"You can open your eyes now" Kid said as he shut off the bike and kicked out the kick-stand. Ran blinked one eye open before blinking rapidly and staring in awe. "T-that's your house!?" she said looking up. Large white pillars spread across the front of a huge white mansion. Kid noticed her staring and smiled.

"Yeah, being a famous thief pays pretty well" he placed his helmet on the seat of his bike and walked up steps to the huge double doors. His hand reached for the door before it swung open by itself.

"There you are!" Aoko screamed. "I thought we were going to the amusement park today?" Kaito scratched the back of his head and tried to ignore her. She noticed Ran walk in behind him, she composed herself.

"Oh...and who's this?" she asked Kaito, trying to keep the jealousy out of her voice. Ran recognized the look she was getting and quickly stepped in.

"Hi! I'm Ran, I'll be staying here awhile because of..." she thought for a second "uh...because of boyfriend troubles, a-heh heh" she laughed nervously.

"I didn't mean to interrupt your date or anything, I'm sorry if my sudden arrival caused you trouble" she faced Kaito "Well, I can figure it out from here! Why don't you go out with her and I'll get settled" she started pushing Kaito toward Aoko. 'I really don't want to get between another couple' she thought, remembering the first time she met Kazuha. Kaito reluctantly went along with Aoko, he stopped next to a man in a black suit.

"That's the girl, you know what to do" he whispered. The man nodded and approached Ran as Kaito reluctantly followed along behind Aoko.

"Right this way, Ms. Mouri" the man said, showing her to the giant staircase. As ran walked up the large staircase the man in black quietly removed a revolver from his jacket and hid it behind his back.

******

"Agh! There's nothing here!" Shinichi yelled, falling onto the bed. He had looked through Ran's room for anything suspicious; he blushed remembering the drawers he quickly shuffled through. Heji let out a sigh and sat next to him on the bed.

"You didn't really think Ran would do something like that" after Shinichi explained everything Heiji became excited about the sudden break in the case "Maybe it was just a fluke in the medicine?" he asked cheerfully.

Shinichi looked at him annoyed "I told you, Haibara thinks something caused this" he sighed and sat up. 'This means we're back to square one' he started closing the door to Ran's room before something shimmered and caught his eye. There was a sweater hanging on the back of Ran's desk chair. A silver container was falling out of the pocket. Shinichi took the container and flipped it over in his hand, the engraved black letters _**MRTY 1893 **_shined in the sunlight.

...


	9. Chapter 9: Theorize before the evidence

Chapter 9:

"This drug caused temporary immunodeficiency while using the adaptive properties of ginseng to focus the immune cells on the nervous system and normalize physical functioning" Haibara said, regarding the computer screen.

"I can't take anything you say seriously with a face like that, but it's sounds like a fancy way of saying he's cured" Heiji said, squinting at the screen. After finding the _**MRTY 1893 **_container the two returned to the lab to have Haibara analyse its contents. Shinichi stayed quiet, deep in thought.

"Aw, come on buddy!" Heiji called out; slapping Shinichi on the back "This is a good thing! No more kid body! We can have a fair competition!"

"What's good about it?" Shinichi said darkly. "The only reason I lived as Conan was to protect Ran. Now I find this!?" he threw the silver container against the lab table, shattering test tubes. "How is this good!? Ran's probably dead by now!"

"Oi, Oi! We don't know anything, you shouldn't talk like that"

"You're right. Let's go over the facts: Ran drugged me, lied to me, and suddenly disappeared. So, what does the great detective of the west think?" Shinichi asked with dead eyes "What's your theory for this case?" Heiji snapped and grabbed Shinichi by the collar, lifting him slightly off the floor.

"I don't have a theory! Some jerk detective I knew told me not to make theories without evidence" Heiji shook Shinichi before letting go of his jacket.

Shinichi stared at the floor '**It is a capital mistake to theorize before you have all the evidence. It biases the judgment.'** He thought of his idol Sherlock Holmes saying exactly that. 'I don't have a lot of faith in this, but I can't just sit here. If there's a chance she's out there, I'll find her' Shinichi started going up the stairs, remembering how easy it was to find Ran whenever they played hide and seek. He smiled.

"Oi! Kudo! Wait for me" Heiji quickly followed him out onto the street, Shinichi was walking at a fast pace "Where are we going?" he asked, catching up with Shinichi's speed.

"To find evidence" he said, matter-of-factly. They continued walking until Shinichi stopped at the front gate of his school. "First, we should make sure that Ran isn't here"

"And see if there are any Karate tournaments we don't know about" Heiji said, patting him on the back. They walked up to the entrance of the school, there was a boy leaning next to the door. Shinichi quickly glanced at his face and stopped in his tracks, something about him was familiar, but he couldn't figure out what it was. The boy noticed him and walked over "I need to tell you something, and you need to act fast" he whispered to Shinichi. "If you're looking for Ran she'll be here. Along with the members of the Black Organization" the boy said, placing a folded piece of paper in Shinichi's hand.

****

The gunshot echoed through the house, Ran grabbed her arm as the blood trickled through her fingers. The man behind her put the gun in a holster that wrapped around his waist, as he approached Ran.

"Change of plans, Angel" the man said, grabbing Ran's other arm and dragging her down the stairs to the door. Ran was still in shock over the gunshot, her mind slowly working through what had happened. After seeing her arm bleeding she was prepared to fight the man, but one word stopped her from moving. 'Angel'

"Kid should have made contact with him by now" the man said looking at his watch, they were outside the house walking toward a black Sedan.

"The meeting happened sooner than I hoped" they both got in the backseat as he continued explaining things to Ran.

"Every year there's a meeting between the main members of the Black Organization. There's never a set date, so it's pretty hard to predict when the meeting will happen. Usually it happens later in the year, but there was a problem. They found out about our boy being alive, and moved it up." the man looked at Ran. "Tonight we bring them all down, isn't that right Bourbon?" he asked, turning to the driver.

"If it means getting you back to normal, I'm up for anything" he smiled and rotated the car out of the giant circle driveway. The man looked back at Ran, who was staring at the two. "...You know who I am right?" he asked, bringing Ran back to reality.

"Vermouth?" she replied, she didn't mean for it to be a question, but the disguise was too good. Vermouth smiled and reached into the trunk, lifting up a bullet proof vest.

"Here, you'll need this" she said handing it to Ran. Ran looked down in horror at the dark blue vest.

"There are holes in it" she said quietly, her heart beating like crazy. Vermouth smiled and let out a quick laugh. "Yeah, I broke it in for you, now hurry up" she began pulling on Ran's sweater, she grazed Ran's wound. "Ow! Why did you shoot me?" she asked, quickly pulling the vest and strapping the sides.

After the vest was on Vermouth pulled the sweater over her head. "The bullet just grazed you" she said annoyed "I needed you to look like a hostage"

"Why am I a hostage?" Ran asked, still clutching her arm.

"To buy your boyfriend some time, you're the distraction until he gets there with his cop buddies"

"Shinichi's coming?!" she shrieked.

"Well I would think so! A chance like this doesn't come very often" she replied. Ran stared at her, thinking of how crazy the last couple days have been. She had said her goodbyes to Shinichi, only to be seeing him again in such a dangerous environment. This wasn't what she had in mind when she decided to help him. Ran's thoughts were broken by the sound of Vermouth cocking a gun next to her.

"What's that for?!" Ran asked, terrified.

"...What's a better distraction than someone getting shot?" Vermouth asked a teasing smile on her face.

"....I thought you said I was the distraction?" Ran said confused. Vermouth stared at her with dead eyes, as if the answer was already clear.

"You're shooting me!?" Ran screamed, quickly moving away from the gun as her back hit the window.

"Just in the stomach" Vermouth replied calmly "I'll do it before Chianti can take a shot at you, I promise"

Ran couldn't say anything, her heart was beating like a hammer and her body was shaking 'what did I get myself into!?' she screamed to herself, watching as Vermouth quietly looked over the gun.


	10. Chapter 10: Flaming Cocktail

Chapter 10:

"Vermouth is late" said a mysterious man dressed in all black, as he stood up from a leather couch. He was a strongly built man, whose face was covered by the shadow casted off his hat. Gin and Vodka waited for him to sit at the head of the table before they both took their seats, Chianti and Korn were sitting on the other side.

"Maybe if we're lucky she was killed" Chianti said, a hopeful look on her face

"Now, now" the man said.

"I don't understand why you like her so much, Boss" Chianti said crossing her arms.

"Watch it" Vodka threatened.

Gin quietly blew out a cloud of smoke next to him, waving his arm to put out a match. "What I don't understand is why we're having such a dangerous meeting, if the kid is such a big threat we should be out finding him" he said annoyed.

The Boss smiled "Your brilliant mind is always an incredible asset to the organization Gin, and we all know how careful you are when it comes to keeping our secret" he said, looking around the table at everyone before continuing "That's why, I'm so concerned about this boy"

"There are other things that you should worry about" Bourbon said entering the room. "Vermouth is gone; I think she might have joined forces with that kid"

"What proof do you have of this?" the Boss asked quietly.

"When I was looking for the boy I found her" he pointed to a man tugging along a girl, a gun held to her ribs.

***

"That's Ran!" Shinichi whispered loudly to Heiji. Even though she was blindfolded and had duct tape covering her mouth, he knew it was her. The two of them had been waiting for her all day. After meeting that boy and getting a location, they took no chances. Shinichi explained everything to Inspector Megure.

-----

"I'm sorry, but with so little time and so little evidence it'll take some time to get permission" he said to Shinichi.

"Inspector! You know I wouldn't lead you wrong; this Organization is dangerous and extremely hard to find. If you let them go today, we may never get another shot"

"Yeah! Besides, this is a tip coming from the best detectives around!" Heiji said confidently.

"I know that, but the best I can do is get some guys up there around 10" Inspector Megure said, annoyed.

"They meet at 9!" Shinichi and Heiji screamed in unison.

-----

'I didn't expect it to be in an abandon factory' Shinichi thought, looking around 'This place is huge! It's going to be pretty hard for the police to surround it. Plus their meeting is in that room' before the meeting, Heiji and Shinichi looked around the building. It was mostly empty space, a walk way was located near the ceiling, and there was one large office room located at the back. The office had a door leading outside. 'And just like we predicted, it was the room the Organization was using' Shinichi thought smugly.

Heiji brought Shinichi back to the present "She's hurt" he whispered. He quickly looked at her through his binoculars and noticed the dark red stain on her arm.

His stomach did a flip 'That must be how they managed to capture her' he thought. He shook his head 'No, wait- that wouldn't explain why she left on her own like that. Was she threatened and then taken hostage? And if so, why was I cured before that? Plus that mysterious boy' he rubbed his chin thinking about everything. He looked at the Organization members, stopping at Gin and Vodka. After listening to the conversation so far, he knew he was a target once again. 'Was it them? Did they find out about me and do this in order to get Ran?' he shook his head 'This isn't the time' he thought, quickly looking back at Ran.

"This girl is the last person that saw Shinichi Kudo" Bourbon said, as the man brought her closer. "She's a childhood friend of his" He reached up and ripped the duct tape off, making her wince and moan. "Tell them what you saw" he demanded. She looked up and said, shaking.

"He said he had a break in the case"

"What case was that?" Gin asked coldly.

"I-I don't know" Ran said, tears coming to her eyes "He said he was on a big case with dangerous people, and now he's one step closer to finding them"

"What does that mean!?" Vodka asked, slamming his hands down as he stood. Ran jumped at the sudden noise, as tears began falling from her eyes.

"And what makes you think it was Vermouth helping him?" the Boss asked calmly, his hands folded on the table.

"She's been in contact with him" Bourbon replied, reaching into his jacket and throwing a handful of pictures on the table "She's known his location and had been following him for months". Pictures of Conan with various people spread across the table.

Gin picked up a picture of Conan and Haibara "This is Sherry" he said, a cunning smile covering his face. "So, that's where she's been hiding. Looks like we've got another traitor"

Chianti looked at a picture of Conan and his friends before throwing it on the table "I knew she was dirty" she said, happily "I'll gladly get rid of her, Boss" The Boss looked at the pictures silently, shuffling through them all before talking again.

"He's an even bigger threat now, if she's helping him" he said calmly "We shouldn't be here, from now on only contact me through the phone. Until he is found and disposed of, be extra careful" he got up from his seat and started leaving. Placing his hand on the door he quickly said "Oh and Bourbon get rid of her" he pointed to Ran, before closing the door behind him.

"Right away, Boss. Hey, you heard him shoot her" he said to the man. Ran screamed and thrashed around, breaking the man's grip as she ran. The man quickly lifted his gun and shot. Ran went down, hitting the ground face first.

"NO!" Shinichi called out, he jumped down from the walkway he was hiding on. The Organization looked over to see him running toward them. Bourbon quickly swore under his breath before taking out his gun and shooting Chianti. At the same time, Vermouth quickly shot Korn. As Vermouth and Bourbon ran behind the couch on the other side, Gin and Vodka quickly flipped the table and started shooting. The sound of gun fire and ripping fabric filled the air.

"Bastards! How dare you do this to the Organization!" Vodka screamed, while firing over the table. "You're dead!"

Gin quietly held his gun; he looked over the table 'The girl's gone...another one of their tricks' he thought quickly. He looked at Shinichi who was getting dragged away by a dark skinned kid. "Cover me for a second" he whispered to Vodka, as he began running toward Shinichi and Heiji. Bourbon and Vermouth both shot at him but missed as he caught up with them. Shinichi turned around and faced him.

"Party's over boys. You've seen too much--!" Gin suddenly began to swagger and fall to his knee. The room was getting cloudy; he looked down at his leg and saw a clear dart that was beginning to dissolve. The darkness was closing in as he looked up to see Shinichi's back, heading toward the door. He lifted his gun.

-POW-

-POW-

-POW-

The gun was smoking as it slipped from his hand and he fell to the floor. Gin stayed awake long enough to see Shinichi fall to the ground, before he slipped into the darkness.

"Brother!" Vodka screamed, standing up from the table and running over to him. Bourbon and Vermouth didn't waste a second, their shooting mixing together as they watched Vodka fall to the ground. There was an unearthly quiet as the smoke settled in the room. Ran's body was shaking uncontrollably as she griped her knees. Vermouth and Bourbon stepped over the couch, checking each body for a pulse.

"I'll check on Gin" Vermouth said to Bourbon, as she began walking towards him. She placed her fingers on his neck "He's still alive!" she screamed back to Bourbon. As she was about to flip him over to see how badly he was injured, she looked up for a second and made out the shape of a body. Vermouth began to stand before she heard another gunshot.

"Glad to hear somebody survived" the Boss said, stepping into the office. He stepped over the Bourbon's body and walked until he was in range of Vermouth.

"Should have known" Vermouth said under her breath.

"You can take off that disguise now" the Boss said, watching as she ripped the mask off and shook out her hair "You were my star, Vermouth. You were the past, present and future of this Organization"

"I never wanted this" she said, meekly. "You took everything from me!"

"On the contrary, I gave you a new beginning" the Boss said raising his arms "This world is cruel, there's no God, there's nothing but money!" Vermouth glanced behind her as she saw Heiji trying to bring Shinichi out. She let out a sigh of relief, closed her eyes and spoke.

"There may not be a God...But there are angels" she said quietly, looking toward the couch where Ran was still hiding. "That's good enough for me"

"Good enough for me too" Kid said suddenly, jumping down from a window. Before the Boss could turn around, Kid shot him with a tranquilizer gun. He staggered, as he ripped the dart out of his neck.

"You bastard" he screamed, firing his gun at Kid, who easily swooped down and dodged. The boss fell down on his knees "This isn't over" he mumbled, his hand was shaking as he reached into his jacket. He pulled out a bottle of Schnapps.

"Oh shit" Vermouth said "KID! GET RAN OUT OF HERE!" she screamed, as the Boss tossed the bottle toward her. The bottled rolled before it exploded into an incredible explosion. Vermouth disappeared into the light, as Ran watched amazed and terrified. Kid had grabbed her and was pulling her to the door. Looking at the explosion she saw Shinichi through the flames. Heiji was dragging his body; blood was covering his stomach and dripping onto the ground. Ran stifled a cry as she was carried out of the building. 'It's all my fault'

***

"Kudo!" Heiji called, desperately trying to drag him away. Shinichi shook off the darkness as he looked up to see a huge fire spread across the room. He tried to stand "Ran! She's still over there! She's alive" he called, the blood flowing faster from his stomach as he thrashed around.

"Idiot! Stay still! We have to get out of here! There's no way we can get to her now, and you're seriously injured"

Shinichi tried to answer, but his mouth wouldn't open. Heiji lifted him up and put his arm over his shoulder as they walked toward the exit. Shinichi looked back and saw Ran, being carried out the door. Heiji noticed and turned them around. Shinichi lifted up his hand before it fell down, and he sank into darkness. Shinichi's full weight made Heiji lose a step, before he shrugged his arm over further up his neck and kept walking "I wish you were a kid again" he said through clenched teeth.


	11. Chapter 11: Sticky Situation

Chapter 11:

Screams and laughter were heard from a distance, as Tropical Land's Ferris wheel turned in the sky. Ran sat on a park bench, holding her knees, listening to the distant noises of the amusement park.

"You're here again?" Kid asked walking up behind her, in his famous white outfit. Ran simply nodded, as she continued to stare at the ground.

"Don't you think you should go home soon? Your family must be worried" he asked again. Ran shook her head, gripping her knees tighter. Kid looked at her before letting out a big sigh and sitting down.

"He's fine Ran" he soothed. "It's been over a month; he'll be out of the hospital soon. You should see him"

"How can I face him..." she asked, voice cracking. "It was all my fault! If I had just told him the truth then none of that would've happened!" she screamed, hiding her head. "Shinichi wouldn't have been hurt! And Vermouth!-"she stopped as the tears began falling. Kid sat silently, looking up toward the Ferris wheel in the distance. The lights blinked and formed shapes. Kid spoke softly, still looking at the sky.

"When she approached me with this plan, I thought she was crazy. I couldn't understand why she would want to endanger a normal girl like you. At first I refused, no goal is worth endangering someone innocent" he turned, and looked out at the park as he continued.

"Then she said something... She told me that you were special. Someone who can put things in motion, she was convinced that you would help end things, and make things better. The way she talked about you...Well, before I knew it I had agreed to help her" he shrugged his shoulders and smiled, as he laid back on the bench. They stayed quite listening to the distant noise. Ran raised her head, and placed her feet back on the ground. Kid noticed that her eyes were free of tears.

"So, what are you going to do?" he asked, teasingly "What's in the future for Ran Mouri?"

"I have no idea" she answered, her mouth slowly turned into a mocking smile "I know what's in the future for the great phantom thief"

"Oh? What if I decided not to steal anymore? Become a normal rich guy?" he asked. Ran stared at him, shocked. Kid saw her face and laughed. "I'm kidding! There's is no way I'm giving this up. Plus I look forward to annoying your detective in the future"

"I'm sure he'll annoy you just as much" she said smiling. Kid started laughing.

"That should be fun! He'll come home to his loving wife for dinner and complain about that pesky thief" he said, laughing.

"And you'll go home to Aoko and complain about that annoying detective that ruined your plan" she answered, looking at him dryly. They held each other's gaze before bursting into laughter. When the laughter settled Ran stood up. "I should go..." she said, as she started walking. "You might want to try the park that's close to your school" Kid said suddenly "You can start making a difference there". Ran turned around to ask him what he meant, when her eyes fell on an empty bench. Ran sighed and smiled 'He's such a show off'

***

"Are you sure you should be doing this? You're still not standing straight" Heiji said.

"It's fine. Besides I have to" Shinichi replied, ignoring the pain that flared in his back as he tried to stand straight.

"Maybe we should ask Inspector Megure again, he could at least have one or two officers sent over" Heiji said, worried "We don't exactly know who could show up tonight"

"I know..." Shinichi said, regretfully. This was the first time he hadn't been able solve a problem. 'These have not been my best couple of months' he thought, remembering how this all started after he woke up in the hospital...

----

Shinichi opened his eyes to the bright white room, he tried to sit up but the pain made him fall back down, gasping for air. He lifted the blanket to see bandages wrapped around his torso. 'Logically speaking, the pain would mean I'm alive' he thought sarcastically.

"You're a real pain in the ass, you know that?" Heiji said walking into the room and sitting next to the bed. "Not only do you jump out in the middle of a shoot out! You also get shot and pass out! I thought you were the rational one! You were worse than me!!" he screamed. Shinichi couldn't think of anything to say. He had done a lot of dangerous things in his life, but this by far was the worse. He changed the subject.

"How long have I been in the hospital?" he asked.

"About 2 weeks?" Heiji answered. "They want you to stay here for a month"

"Why? I can't be in here for a month! The black organization! And Ran-" he stopped when the pain in his stomach roared.

"...I don't know if you remember, but you were shot 3 times!" Heiji said, angry. "If Gin had a bigger gun! Or if he was any closer, we wouldn't be talking right now!! You've got three wounds on your back and two on your stomach, from where the bullets exited. You should be lucky to be out in a month!"

The degree of his injury surprised Shinichi. He knew he had been shot, but he didn't think it was that bad. 'I'm a stubborn guy' he thought, smiling. Heiji's yelling brought him out of his train of thought.

"The police are looking around, so you should just shut up and heal!" he continued rambling on.

"The police are looking around for what?" Shinichi said, catching the odd phrasing of the sentence.

Heiji stopped screaming and closed his eyes. "One of them... got away" he said slowly. Shinichi immediately sat up, ignoring the swirling in his head.  
"Who?!" he screamed. Heiji was quiet, contemplating whether to tell him or not.

"Who is it?!" Shinichi screamed again "Hattori!!"

"Gin" he answered quietly. "He's gone... Our best guess is that he woke up before the fire could get to him" Shinichi slumped down, letting Heiji's words seep into his mind. The room became eerily quiet, the rhythmic beeps fading away. The silence finally got to be too much for Heiji.

"But!" he said super cheerfully "You've got this!" he pulled out a letter from his pocket and placed it on Shinichi's lap. "It looks like girls writing to me, Ran's gotta be alright if she's sending love letters" he said with a teasing smile on his face. Shinichi looked at the letter, looking closely on the lettering of his name. He suddenly began tearing it open.

"This isn't Ran's writing" he said frantically. He tugged the note out of the envelope, it had three lines:

_-Beika Park._

_- 9:00pm_

_-Come alone._

Because Shinichi had to stay in the hospital, Heiji would show up at the park. In the beginning the police would patrol the exits, and had undercover agents throughout the park. It had been over a month and nothing happened, the police stopped showing up. Tonight was the first night Shinichi was allowed out, and it was already past 9:30pm.

Shinichi looked at Heiji, "The note said for me to be alone"

"There's no way I'm leaving you here alone" Heiji answered, quickly "You still look like crap, and there's a murderous criminal after you, I'm staying"

"If he wanted me dead he would have shot me by now" Shinichi said "There are at least five sniping positions that I can make out from here" he said, looking around.

"I'm not leaving" Heiji said ignoring him. 'Stubborn bastard' Shinichi thought annoyed. The two of them were sitting on a park bench, listening to the wind and bugs echo through the night, a rustling noise came from a bush nearby. They stayed very still as the noise got louder and louder; Heiji leaned toward Shinichi and whispered:

"That sounds pretty big for an animal" he said, never taking his eyes away from the direction of the noise. "What's the plan?"

Shinichi stayed quiet.

"You do have a plan right? If this is Gin he'll have a gun..." Heiji drifted off, realizing there wasn't a plan. Before he could start yelling, two hands appeared from the bush. The two of them stood up, as the hands came further out of the bush.

"Phew!" Ran said, brushing the leaves off of her shirt. 'This park is so confusing at night. Why did Kid want me to come here?' she thought, looking around. Her eyes fell on two very familiar guys, their eyes wide with shock.


	12. Chapter 12: How was your day?

Last Chapter:

"Ran!?" Shinichi called, staring at her. He was expecting a deadly killer with a gun, not his childhood friend full of leaves.

Ran stood there, shocked. She wasn't ready to face Shinichi, not after what happened. The guilt resurfacing as she saw him wince in pain after calling her name. The thought of running flashed through her head, but her feet didn't move. _'She told me that you were special. Someone who can put things in motion, she was convinced that you would help end things, and make things better'_ she remembered Kid talking about Vermouth. 'Make things better' she thought building her courage as she walked closer to Shinichi. They looked at each other, thinking about all the things they want to say and ask, as their mouths stayed shut.

"Ummm" Heiji said, "How about some audio for this conversation?" he asked annoyed.

"Oh! I'm sorry, How are you?" Ran asked him nervously "I haven't seen you in a while....How's Kazuha?" she asked in a rush.

Heiji stared at her with narrow eyes "She's fine, last I checked she didn't run off with a criminal" he said coldly. He was really glad that Ran was back, but couldn't help blaming her for Shinichi's condition, the memory of dragging Shinichi to the hospital still fresh in his memories. Heiji's harsh words made Ran step back, she couldn't think of anything to say. 'Nothing I say can fix this' she thought 'He's right' she looked down at the ground, too afraid to face them. Heiji instantly began regretting his outburst, he knew deep down it wasn't her fault. Before he could apologies and get her to cheer up Shinichi stepped closer to her. Ran flinched but didn't move away, as she continued looking down, waiting for the outburst of anger. Shinichi put his forehead on hers and sighed.

"Thank God" he mumbled softly, closing his eyes. There they stood nose to nose, waiting for the other to speak, too afraid to move an inch.

"A-hem!" Heiji coughed "Well, if she's the killer after you, I think you can handle it" Heiji said awkwardly, he had never seen the two of them so close, and it was creeping him out. 'It's like a scene from a chick flick' he thought, slightly disgusted 'Except I know them' He said his goodbyes and quickly left the park, surprised to find himself thinking about Kazuha.

Ran and Shinichi slowly stepped away from each other, a deep blush on their cheeks. Ran fiddled with her hands and Shinichi looked in another direction, scratching his head Ran resolved herself and started talking first.

"I'm sorry!" she blurted out "I didn't explain things to you, and I got involved in something you were trying to keep me away from. It was a stupid idea that got you hurt" she said unable to make eye contact.

"No! It's my fault too, if I had told you everything, you wouldn't have done something so irrational" he said. 'Irrational?' Ran thought getting annoyed at his attitude.

"And I suppose you weren't _Irrational _when you jumped out in front of people shooting?" she asked coldly.

"I thought you were dead!" he defended, picking up on her attitude.

"Well even if I was, you don't jump out in front of guys with guns! You idiot!" she screamed back.

"Yeah, I'm an idiot for trying to save you!" he screamed back

"Well if you thought I was dead why jump out to save me!?"

"Because I love you and had to make sure you were OK!" he screamed back, furious. He stopped the next insult from coming out of his mouth, realising what he just said. Ran stared at him in shock, completely forgetting her anger. Shinichi opened his mouth to say something when they heard a slow clap coming from behind them.

"Good for you, brat. Finally admitting it, just in the nick of time" Gin said, the horrible burn scar on his face shined in the light. "I've done my homework on you both; I never thought I'd get this chance so quick! I didn't even have to lift a finger" he said, raising a silver handgun.

Shinichi stretched his hand out in front of Ran, pushing her behind him, the adrenaline keeping his mind off the pain in his back and stomach. "That note was really vague, you could have put a date" he said smugly to Gin. Gin smiled and stepped closer.

"I heard that you're friend had been coming to this park every night at the same time, and look who decides to show up the night I visit. I don't know about any note, but it must be my lucky day" He said stepping close enough that the gun was inches away from Shinichi's heart.

"Now I get to kill you both, nice and slow" he said "But first!" he grabbed Shinichi arm and tore his watch off "I need to get rid of this annoying thing!" He looked at the watch, a small laugh escaping his mouth "A tranquilizer watch...Doesn't work well when there's fire around to keep you awake" he tapped the scar with his finger "The smell of burning flesh is better than an alarm clock"

Gin moved the gun up to Shinichi's forehead. "You took everything from me" he said, Ran let out a yelp. Gin looked at her and smiled. He pulled the trigger. The booming noise sliced through the night air. Shinichi felt something splash onto his cheek; he opened his eyes and saw red. Ran was shaking, holding the gun as her shoulder fell dead against her side, she was breathing heavily

"You annoying bitch!" Gin yelled, pulling the gun from her hand and smashing it against her head, she gasped in pain as she fell to the ground. Gin pointed the gun back at Shinichi, he stood still, noticing Ran slowly standing up.

"No more distractions!" Gin screamed, his finger pulling the trigger back. The booming noise echoed through the park as the gun flew through the air, Ran stood holding her shoulder as she lowered her extended leg back onto the ground. Her breathing was ragged as blood spilled down her face. Gin watched as the gun clattered to the ground behind Shinichi. He swore under his breath and reached into his coat for another gun.

"I don't think so!" Shinichi said, standing up. His shoes crackled as he swiftly kicked Gin in the chest. He screamed in agony as he flew backwards crashing into a park bench on the other side of the park. The noise of cracking wood and limbs filled the air in a huge clatter. Ran looked at Gin, sprawled out on a pile of wood; she could barely make out the shape in the distance. Shinichi's shoes crackled loudly before the lightning settled.

"...Did you have to kick him so far?" Ran couldn't help asking, the image of Gin flying through the sky burned in her memory.

"Blame Agasa" Shinichi defended. "He told me these new shoes would be stronger-"he looked at the unconscious Gin "But this is ridiculous!"

Ran looked at him amazed; he just had a gun pointed at him but now he was marvelling at his shoes. She let out a small laugh and she fell to her knees 'Kid was right. There are going to be a lot of interesting dinner conversations in the future' she thought to herself, as she faded into the darkness, the sound of Shinichi calling her name faded away.

***

Conan walked through the door. "Welcome home" Ran called to him from the kitchen, the sound of plates clattering as she prepared dinner. "Go wash your hands" she told him, focusing on the food. Conan smiled and put his backpack near the door, heading to the bathroom to wash his hands. He was drying them when he heard the front door open.

"I'm home!" a young girl screamed out cheerfully, her long brown hair bouncing as she threw her bag against the couch. Ran sighed 'I don't think that bag will make it through another year' she thought, regretfully. "Welcome home, go change and wash your hands, dinner will be ready soon" she said.

"Ok!" the young girl screamed, heading to her room, she passed Conan and jokingly punched his shoulder "Nice to see you nerd" she said laughing. Conan held his arm and sighed "I'm not a nerd" he explained, it was the same routine every day.

"But you look so geeky in glasses" the girl answered back, "Good thing you only need them to read" she slapped Conan hard on the back, making him stumble forward. He sighed. Last week he noticed he was getting headaches when reading, and ever since getting reading glasses he had to explain to his younger sister that he wasn't a nerd. He pulled out a chair from the table and sat, watching his mom prepare 3 plates.

"Dad's not coming home for dinner?" he asked.

"No, he's got a case and hasn't been able to find evidence to prove his theory" she explained, sighing.

"He should be home soon then" Conan said proudly, no one was a better detective than his dad.

"Yeah" the young girl agreed, sitting down at the table. Ran smiled and placed the plates down; she noticed a bruise on the young girl.

"What happened?" Ran asked, lifting the girl T-shirt to see a huge bruise.

"I fought with Kyle today" the girl answered, proudly.

"Why?" Ran asked, as she looked through the cupboards for the 1st aid kit. "He's two years older than you, I doubt your instructor scheduled a match"

"No, but Kyle kicked me!" she said innocently "I didn't think I was strong enough to stop it with my hands so I used my arm" Ran narrowed her eyes.

"And why would Kyle suddenly kick you?" she said, waiting for the real answer behind the fight. The young girl looked away.

"I might have called him a gorilla" she mumbled quickly. Ran sighed as she put ice on the bruise.

"And why did you do that?" she asked, a headache coming to her head.

"He called me a man" the girl said, annoyed. "So I called him a gorilla that was too dumb for the zoo, and his friends laughed at him, and he came after me" she explained holding onto the ice. Ran put the 1st aid kit away.

"He called you a man?" she asked, the anger rising in her voice. Conan sulked down in his seat; he knew how angry his mom gets. Ran closed the cupboard and sat down at the table, her brows furrowed together "I'll teach you how to block attacks better, and then we'll work on flipping an opponent that's bigger than you" she said determined. The young girl cheered, as Conan stared in horror 'She's going to get stronger?!' he thought in a panic.

"So, Conan how was your day?" Ran asked, twirling her spaghetti onto her fork.

"Good, we got a new student with a weird name. Then the teacher wanted us all to find out the origins of our name" he said, leaning toward Ran for the answer.

"You were named after Daddy's favourite author!" the young girl said with attitude "Duuh"

"That doesn't make sense though! Why the authors middle name?" he yelled back.

"Because! ... "she screamed back, pausing to think of an answer "Because, Conan starts with 'C' and there's a C in Daddy's name" it was the only answered that she could think of.

"There's an 'A' in Mom's name! I could have been called Arthur, according to your logic!" Conan screamed back teasingly.

"Yeah well!-" the girl answered, trying to think of some other reason for the name. Ran's fork hitting her plate brought both of their attention to their mom, who was laughing like a crazy lady. Ran finally started talking again, the occasional giggle interrupting her speech.

"Actually, I was the one that named you Conan" she said. The children gasped and screamed "No way!" in unison, making Ran laugh harder.

"But you don't like Sherlock Holmes, why would you name him after the author!?" the young girl asked, leaning on the table.

"It's true, that's not a favourite book of mine. I have enough detectives in my life without having to read about one" Ran answered smiling. "I named you after a different Conan" Ran said sweetly, looking at Conan.

"Then what about me!?" the girl asked "Who named me!?" she squealed. Conan and Ran answered at the same time "Shinichi" "Dad".

The young girl slumped down on her chair "I knew it" she said disappointed.

"Who else would name someone Irene?" Conan said, teasingly. Irene stuck her tongue out at Conan.

"Daddy named me that because he knew I would be the best, just like Irene Adler" Irene answered, proudly. Ran started laughing again.

"Who was Conan named after?" Irene asked. Conan perked up his ears, interested in solving this new mystery.

"Conan was named after someone me and your father knew very well" Ran answered, a huge grin on her face. "You're Dad was having a hard time solving a case and-" she was caught off by the kids screaming.

"Dad doesn't have a hard time with a case!" Conan screamed.

"Unless it's Kid-sama " Irene corrected, a faint blush on her face as she pictured his flowing white cape. Conan snubbed at her. Ran giggled.

"How about I tell you all about the Conan you were named after" she said, looking at Conan. "And I'll tell you about the case that Shinichi couldn't solve for months!" she said, in a fairy-tale voice.

****

The sound of children faded from her dream as Ran woke up. Her eyes focused on a face staring down at her.

"Sonoko?" Ran asked her voice full of sleep.

"Thank God!" Sonoko screamed "You slept like the dead! Well more dead than usual" she corrected herself, remembering Ran's sleeping habits. Ran remembered what happened in the park, and the dream she just had. She pulled the hospital sheets up to cover her face, remembering who her husband was in the dream. Sonoko watched as Ran's face turned red.

"You were talking in your sleep" Sonoko said interested "Something about that brat Conan?" Ran froze.

"D-did I say anything else?" she asked, panicked.

"No?" Sonoko asked confused, an evil grin spread on her face "Why was there something else in that dream? Spill! Tell me everything!" Sonoko squealed. Ran's face turned a deep crimson, she looked at Sonoko's expecting face and sigh 'She won't stop until she gets what she wants' Ran thought 'Besides, I can keep out the important details' she thought shyly.

"I had a dream that I had a son named Conan" Ran said, hoping that would be the end of it. Sonoko looked at her disgusted "Why on earth chose a name like that?" Ran was about to answer when she heard laughing coming from the end of her hospital bed. Shinichi raised his head from the bed and stretched his arms, when he saw Ran's shocked face he laughed again.

"I think Conan is a great name" he said teasingly as he leaned against his hand, on the bed. Sonoko looked at him coldly "Who invited you to this conversation?"

"Who invited you to this hospital room?" Shinichi snapped back. Ran could feel the hatred spark between them and sighed. She tried to sit up, but her shoulder wasn't strong enough. Sonoko noticed and helped her up, placing a pillow behind her back. After Ran was comfortable she started talking.

"How long have I been sleeping?" she asked. Sonoko opened her mouth to answer, but then shut it.

"Two days" Shinichi answered, smiling at Sonoko.

"Even though, I only learned about it today" Sonoko mumbled angrily.

"You're lucky I even called you" Shinichi mumbled back.

"Ok!" Ran shouted stopping the fight before it could get any worse. She looked at Shinichi.

"You're Ok?"

Shinichi smiled, lifting his arms "Totally healthy, thanks to someone's crazy karate kick" he teased.

"I had a crazy kick? Did you not see the force of _your _kick!? You could have killed someone, idiot!"

"How am I an idiot? You're the one that jumped in front of a gun and got her shoulder shot!" Shinichi yelled back. Sonoko looked at them dryly; she was hoping for a happy lovey-dovey reunion 'You're both idiots' she thought.

"I'm going to get some drinks" she said making her way to the door, the two ignored her as they continued bickering "Not that your listening" Sonoko mumbled, closing the door behind her.

"And YOU'RE the one that started all this when you didn't tell me the truth about Conan" Ran continued yelling.

"You would have never found out about it if you stayed away from strangers!" Shinichi defended.

"If _you_ stayed away from strangers they wouldn't have drugged you" Ran yelled back, annoyed "You're such a mystery nut! Always doing dangerous things! You're curiosity will kill you one day!" She was about to scream out her next insult when her mouth was covered with his lips. Ran sat there stunned, her mind turning blank. She closed her eyes and leaned closer to Shinichi. He wrapped his hand around her waist and pulled her closer to him. The world seemed to fade away, and it was just the two of them until-

-CLANK, CLUNK,CLINK-

The sound made them both jump away from each other, as they looked over to see a shocked Sonoko and 3 cans of pop spilling onto the floor. Behind her, in the door frame was Heiji, Eri and Kogoro, all three of them staring in shock. There was a long awkward silence in the room; Ran's face was covered with the blanket.

"I'll kill him!" Kogoro screamed, lifting his fist in the air as he stomped toward Shinichi. Eri pushed him back out the door.

"You knew it would happen one day, at least she picked a _smart _detective" Eri said, pushing him into the hallway. "My precious daughter and that punk! He's dead!!" Kogoro's death threats faded away through the hall. Heiji coughed once it was quiet again, he didn't know what to do. 'Do I congratulate them?' he wondered. He decided to play it safe.

"Well!" he started awkwardly "I'm going to..." he thought for a second "...Guard the door" he finished poorly; even he knew how bad that sounded. He gave up trying and shut the door, leaning against the wall as a nurse passed by. 'Wait! Does this mean he beat me again!?' Heiji thought annoyed. Just then Kazuha walked toward him with a handful of flowers.

"Hey Heiji" she said cheerfully "Is Ran awake?" she asked. Heiji looked at her and back at the door.

"No...and you're not allowed in there at the moment" he said, exhausted.

"Why?" Kazuha complained "I brought flowers and traveled all this way" Heiji looked at her and smiled at the frown on her face. He remembered Shinichi and Ran and stepped closer to her.

"Hey Kazuha" he said "There's something I need to tell you" Kazuha's heart jumped and she turned to face him, she tried to look at his face but her heart was beating too fast.

"It's something I noticed not too long ago" Heiji continued, getting so close to her face that he could smell the flowers in her hand. Kazuha froze, he eyes shut tight.

"Those flowers are terrible, you should go get new ones" he finished. Kazuha waited with her eyes closed replaying the sentence in her head, slowly realising that she wasn't about to get kissed, or confessed to. She opened her eyes and looked at Heiji, who was grinning like an idiot.

"Oh? I see" Kazuha said, her voice shaking. "Let me just throw these flowers away then!!" she screamed, throwing them at Heiji as the petals exploded into the air. "Thank you for noticing!" Kazuha stormed off, ignoring the screaming idiot following behind her.

The screaming was heard through the door, as Shinichi sighed and shook his head at how childish Heiji was. Not that he should talk, he didn't have the greatest timing either. Ran was starting to worry about Sonoko, she still hadn't moved.

"Um... Sonoko?" Ran asked concerned. "Are you Ok?" she asked nervously. Sonoko blinked, closing her mouth and she stood up straight. Her gaze went back and forth between Ran and Shinichi until an ear shattering scream came from her mouth.

"IT'S ABOUT TIME! YOU STUBBORN IDIOTS!" she raced up to Ran's bed, pushing Shinichi away. "Tell me everything, NOW! Who started it? Please tell me it was you Ran" she squealed.

----

"You don't need me to write anymore notes do you?" Aoko asked Keito as they stood in front of the hospital, faint yelling and screaming coming from the windows. Keito laughed.

"No, I think that one did the trick. Just listen to that happy ending" he said, proudly.

"Does this mean you'll stop being a thief?" she asked, excited.

"Nope" he answered smugly "It just means I have something new to focus on"

Aoko looked at him annoyed "And what if that detective catches you one day?"

"What little faith you have in the great phantom thief!" he teased, acting upset.

"What if it happens, Keito!" she screamed, annoyed at his indifference. Keito looked at her and grinned.

"Guess I'll have to pass on my skills to an heir, just in case" he looked at Aoko, whose face was bright red as she sputtered out noises that barely sounded like words

"Besides, it would be one hell of a story to tell over dinner" Keito laughed, as he held Aoko's hand and walked away. The screaming and laughing coming from the hospital faded in the distance.

--------------------------------------------------- THE END-----------------------------------------------------------

^_^/ Thanks for reading!


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